Posse Incitatus

Happy Halloween

I’ve been too busy to blog of late, what with work stuff and the Big Night O’ Trick or Treating.

But here are some quick thoughts on college football.

It is becoming clear that Michigan’s decision to hire RichRod was one borne of desperation and infighting.

I gleaned this information from a weekly roundup piece in the Freep.

Two things stood out. Here’s the first:

• He emphasized that there is progress despite the terrible record. "We're already turning it around. ... It just isn't showing up on Saturday." He did add that the turnaround has taken longer than he anticipated, mostly because he hadn't researched the personnel before he took the job.

Let's pause and let that sink in for a moment. This guy came to the school and had no idea what his personnel were like before he took the job.

When you do a job interview, don't you get asked about the company? I mean, that's the first thing I do before I go in - find out what they do, a little history, basically as much as possible. How hard would it have been for him to go and grab the media guide?

Basically, either U-M didn’t ask or didn’t care whether he was familiar with the program. That’s unconscionable. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see mighty Meeechigan reduced to Purdue- or Indiana-levels of irrelevance, but idiocy at least deserves to be pointed out. Fair is fair, after all.

Oh, and I love the bit about the improvements don’t show up when it actually, er, matters.

This next part will bring a smile to many Spartan faithful:

• Neither tailback Sam McGuffie nor safety Mike Williams practiced Sunday after suffering head injuries against Michigan State, but both should this week. Both players have a slight concussions, Rodriguez said.

MSU gave two Wolverines concussions. Awesome.

The Glock deficit

The Posse has been remiss in not posting about guns lately.  The fact is, we haven't had time to do much shooting this fall.  As the football season winds down, that will change.  I've got a new gun to review, so bear with me.

Commenter BrentinNH has noted that this blog doesn't talk about Glocks much.  There is a reason for that:  I don't like them.

Some year ago, when buying my first handgun, I decided that I wanted a revolver.  But which one?  I visited several stores, spoke with experienced shooters, read up on the subject and the result of all that research was that so long as it comes from a reputable manufacturer, the most important feature of a handgun is that it fits the user.

Long-time readers know what I am talking about: the Colt King Cobra.

I went with the Colt because it pointed so well in my hand.  I'd think about the target, and it seemed to sense that and zero right in on it.

I am aware that Glocks are, to many shooters, the ne plus ultra of modern handguns.  Their safety features, durability, reliability, etc. have been the subject of endless reviews and fodder for thousands of hours of debate.

But I still don't like them.  They just don't fit in my hand.  The trigger safety bothers me as well.

This is not to say that all of my handguns are perfect fits.  They aren't.  But Glocks, for their price, are simply not something I am interested in. 

Victory for MSU

For the record, the Posse did not relax until the game was actually over.  That's how shell-shocked we are.

It was a crazy game, one that was a lot closer than it should have been.  The bizarre replay ruling caused quite a bit of consternation here at the ranch, and I certainly hope Dantonio and the Spartans press the issue with the conference.  I thought the rules about touchdowns were pretty clear: the ball has to break the plane.  The replay ruling that the player's foot kicked over the pylon (which the NCAA rule book explicitly says makes the player out of bounds) set a new gold standard for jacked-up officiating.

The thing was, MSU overcame that.  They even overcame Brett Swenson's ill-timed slump.  That's what truly dominating teams do.

I would be remiss in not Drawing a Larger Lesson from the game, and it is this: MSU has made a statement and this was a major milestone for the program.  Dantonio has truly changed the culture in East Lansing and though I think recruiting is overhyped, it is clear that MSU is becoming dominant in terms of in-state talent.  Good for us.

S.O.M. 2008 Edition

With the OSU debacle fresh in our minds, it is now time to turn our focus to the pure evil that is the University of Meeechigan.

The great hope is that our blowout loss (the worst in two years) will stun the team into regaining its focus.  We got a little overconfident after pounding Northwestern.  That rout was the result of our complacency.

Let there be no mistake: The Wolverines are still dangerous.  Mostly to themselves, but we very well could get caught in the blast radius of their ongoing self-destruction.

The fact of the matter is, Michigan State is its own worst enemy.  When we play solid football and avoid mistakes, we win.  When we lose, it is because we beat ourselves.  Certainly we did a great job of that Saturday.

So if this team pulls together, calms down and plays the kind of no-frills, focused football that has given us our best start in years, we will win.

The comeback kid?

This is a strange election year.  The polls are unusually volatile, and not very consistent.  To hear the press tell it, Obama is cruising to the biggest landslide win in 20 years.  Yet that signs just aren't there.

I've never seen a press so in the tank for another candidate.  Whether spreading false stories or running "fact checks" that are anything but, the media are almost literally dragging Obama across the finish line.

And yet, and yet...

McCain seems to be finally gaining ground.  How much of this will show up in the polls is unclear.  Some of the ones showing Obama with 10-point margins clearly didn't add up.  I'm honestly not engaged enough to sort through the internals, but the folks that do are seeing some odd things.  The upshot is that McCain can still win this thing. 

Sarah Palin is finally being herself and she's drawing in huge crowds.  She's also doing more media than ever before, which may well counter Obama's massive and unprecedented cash advantage.  People are interested in her.

At the same time, Joe Biden's comment about how election Obama will create a crisis isn't encouraging.  Obama's treatment of Joe the Plumber was also illuminating.

As Mickey Kaus has noted, two weeks is plenty of time for the race to transform.  Hillary Clinton went from "inevitable" to "underdog" in a fortnight - and then bounced back a fortnight later.  That was without the constant media glare, which speeds things up even more.

Do I have a prediction?  No.  I'm doing what all good conservatives do: hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

So much for that conference championship

While much of the Posse was ready to declare the season over by the end of the first quarter yesterday, a little perspective is in order.

No one seriously thought MSU was going to win the Big Ten title - certainly not with Brian Hoyer under center.

Though Mark Dantonio has made big gains in the culture, this remains John L. Buffoon's team.  The players he didn't recruit are still young and prone to error.

This is not to excuse yesterday's blowout loss, which is a black eye for the program.  I find only two positive things about it: we weren't shut out, and Kirk Cousins looked great.  He made a strong case to be the starter this year rather than next.

But other than that, it was a terrible display.  I admit, I was nervous about the spotlight being put on MSU, particularly with that game in Ann Arbor this Saturday.  The last thing we need is to get overconfident.  I don't think that will happen now.

Which brings us to the Skunk Bears.  Their game was much more entertaining, and it showed that Michigan does have talent, it just doesn't know how to use it.  The spread requires an outstanding quarterback to make it work, and without that, turnovers will result.  This was probably Michigan's best performance in October (given the calibre of opponent and setting) so I hope the Spartans are watching with care.  There is simply no reason we can't demolish the Skunk Bears and at least end that regrettable streak.

Actually, MSU still can tie for the conference if OSU beats Penn State and we in turn beat them in November.  Not that I think we will, especially given yesterday's performance, but hope springs eternal.

Guns and life

I haven’t written much about guns because I haven’t been shooting lately.  Still, I’m amazed that the NRA and other gun-rights supporters aren’t about to go into apoplexy over one of the greatest threats to gun rights since 1994: President Barack Obama and a Democrat Congress.

Do I think the Dems are stupid enough to go for outright bans?  No.  They got burned on that before, but there is a risk-free way the Dems can curtail our civil rights without facing voter wrath:  The Supreme Court.

We should never forget that the Heller decision was narrowly decided.  We came one vote away from losing the Second Amendment by judicial fiat.

So where is the NRA?  What gives?  Why am I not being bombarded every football Saturday with commercials warning me of what is at stake?  Where are the mailers, the stickers?

I could say the same for Right to Life. Are you guys asleep or something?  Mark my words, if this crowd gets into total power in D.C., abortion will be a new civil right – one that doctors will be required to perform.  Abortion is the sacrament of the Democrat party and as the number of doctors willing to perform the grisly procedure dwindles, they have no problem with coercing people to do it.

And then we’ll all get to pay for it. See, one of the reasons the Dems love government-funded health care is that by definition it includes abortion.  The vast majority of Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortion, and this a great way to sidestep them.  Look, the Dems are nothing if not masters of redirection.  Once you get national health care, Congress can solemnly decree that it doesn’t cover abortion, at which point the Obama appointees will say “nope, got to, it’s a civil right.” Then Congress just shrugs and washes its hands.

Judges are the preferred Democrat method of policy implementation.  Gay “marriage” anyone?  So I’m baffled that the McCain campaign isn’t making a bigger deal of out this.

Halftime

Midway through the season, two things are obvious:

1.  These are not John L. Buffoon's Spartans, and

2.  RichRod is a terrible coach.

MSU is still rough around the edges.  It's a strange thing to watch the Spartans with a room full of fans who start to panic the moment our lead falls to less than two touchdowns, but that's what years of mediocrity will do for you.  We handled Northwestern, and after watching that game - and Ohio State's shockingly poor peformance at Purdue, I think we have a good shot at an upset.

Tressel's offense just hasn't shown up since he stopped playing the AA squads and in-state MAC schools.  I was going to credit the Buckeyes for a strong performance against Wisconsin, but Paterno's boys showed just how weak the Fraudgers really are.  How did those guys get into the tops ten, anyway?

So my beloved Spartans have a pretty decent chance at taking down the Buckeyes [Q: What's a buckeye?  A: A small, hairless nut.] if they can avoid making big mistakes.  Hoyer needs to concentrate on the easy pass, the sure thing, and he will have them because Ringer will force OSU to stack the box.

The Spartan secondary should be a little stronger as it heals up from the beating it took against Iowa, which also bodes well.  Terrell Pryor is mobile, but he's not suicidal.  A few solid hits and the freshman may well decided discretion is the better part of valor.  You could see that yesterday, when Northwestern's QB got less accurate the more dinged up he became.

Meanwhile, the Little Brother School in Ann Arbor (the one next to Eastern Michigan, which I suspect most of its players which they could transfer to) is a train wreck.

Let's get a few myths out of the way before we get too far into dissection what has actually gone on.

First Myth:  This is a rebuilding year.

It's isn't.  Lloyd Carr's team was not in perfect shape, but it still won games.  Michigan needed an oil change and tire rotation; RichRod is trying to swap out the engine and install a new transmission.  It's not going well.

Second Myth:  Michigan is short on talent.

I hate to say it, but Michigan is fine talent-wise.  Or rather it would have been, had it not hired RichRod and caused the heir-apparent quarterback to flee the school in dismay.  As I noted last week, coaching is about making things work with the talent you have.  If you have a Javon Ringer, you develop your running game.  If you have a selection of green, low-skill quarterbacks, you damn well wait a year before imposing the spread.

Third Myth:  We all knew Michigan would have problems making adjustments.

This one is a hoot.  Yes, most transitions may cause some uneven play, and a team that went 9-3 during the regular season may well go 8-4 or even 7-5 as they try to adjust.  At this point, MIchigan will be freakishly lucky to avoid 5-7. 

Losing to Toledo was a disaster of epic proportions.  These guys weren't a bunch of plucky upstarts, playing over their heads; they were not a championship team from a lower division who got the drop on a bigger, slower team that didn't take them seriously.  Toledo was sub-par even by MAC standards.  Losing a game to them at home means there really is no bottom.  Michigan could go 2-10 now.  If RichRod couldn't inspire his team to come back from Illinois and obliterate tiny Toledo, what can he do?

This season is halfway over.  The fun may just be getting started.

The non-debate

As I predicted, the media has called the debate for Obama.  I’m glad I spent last night watching Kelly’s Heroes instead.

The degree to which the press is in the tank for Obama is actually surprising to me.  I’m used to pro-Dem bias, but I’ve never seen anything like this.  McCain reminds people that Obama accused our troops of bombing villages and killing civilians and the AP dutifully says “Yep, U.S. troops are war criminals.”

Amazing.

I honestly don’t know how these “journalists” can stand to look at themselves in the mirror - assuming they even cast reflections.

Anyhow, given the massive, unprecedented air support Obama is receiving, the surprising thing isn’t that he’s ahead, it’s that McCain is still even in this thing.  He still has a chance, but he must do one thing – defend his health care plan.

It’s a great idea, it truly would cut costs, improve coverage and bring better quality of care – but Obama and his goons are hideously distorting it.  McCain must step up and explain this plan better.  Tearing down Obama isn’t enough, he has to come up with something positive and this proposal is about as positive as you can get.

The recruiting canard

The Posse is about to commit college sports heresy.  Brace yourselves.  Ready?

Recruiting isn’t that big of a deal in college football.

Yes, Tyrrell Pryor is a freshman phenom.  Other highly-rated stars have done well, but for every five-star top-rated superstar, there are a half-dozen nobodies who really make things happen.

They may not get the ink of the superstars because they don’t come with all the media hype, but they often matter more than the headline-grabbers.

Recruiting is important, but only insofar as it gets the coach the players he wants for the positions he needs.

Michigan State’s depth problems during the John L. Buffoon era were that he didn’t have balanced talent and he couldn’t develop any, not that he lacked high-end athletes.

Let’s be clear: at this level, almost everyone who can make the squad can make a different.  And if we’ve seen anything over the past few years, it is that talent and a national reputation no longer carry the weight they once did.

It’s the coaching that makes the difference.

The debacle last year in South Bend put that into sharp focus.  Notre Dame is not a school without a reputation, or a decent budget and its players are no worse than the teams they faced.  The problem was (and is) that they have a lousy coach and a poor match of players to positions – which is basically the coach’s fault.

Great players aren’t recruited, folks, they are developed.  One of Lloyd Carr’s greatest sins was that he took top-rated talent and left it on the shelf.  He didn’t develop it.  You left U-M basically the same way you came in.

MSU, by contrast, develops talent. More properly, it used to, stopped under Smith, and now is doing it again.

So when you read the latest headline on Rivals.com about how this super-kid is going that that school or the Detroit News runs yet another Blue-Aid slurping story about how RichRod has just about sewed up some prep school prodigy, take it was the massive grain of salt.